UN: SV | VOICE

[ascarylady]

[ Thanks to this conversation, Sevika is now here to remind everyone, ]

You all remember we had that big, ominous sign outside Etraya's bubble telling us we weren't alone, right?

[ Please. She cannot be the only one concerned about this. ]

Well, those tallies are done tallying, and we were out of days on that thing a while ago. Has anyone noticed anything strange? Anything different? Because that message wasn't friendly-sounding, and I don't feel like being surprised by a pack of hostile unknowns.

Comments

[wolfish]

The very same. [ He offers a jaunty little two-fingered salute. The display name has less to do with him and more to do with what people back home might pause upon seeing, but details. ] Call me Yuri.

[ It's the name he gives out, after all. ]

[ascarylady]

Sevika.

[ Least she can do is offer a name in return before she dashes the remains of her cigarettes to the sidewalk and snuffs it out with a boot. ]

Come on. We can talk while I check the hospital's perimeter.

[ She turns without further prompting. Whatever's left of the winter's snow and ice crunches underfoot as she strikes out along the hospital, checking the windows as she goes with glances alone. Her own stride is confident and long-legged, eating up ground easily without needing to be quick. ]

[wolfish]

[ Yuri keeps apace beside her, but the distance doesn't evaporate. He maintains that space between them as they walk without apparent effort or thought. ]

Casing the joint, are we? [ The words come with the airy lilt of what might or might not be humor. ] I've been pretty deep below, if that interests you.

[ He casts that tidbit into the cold air, eyes remaining on the path ahead. ]

[ascarylady]

[ Enough trust to follow along but enough suspicion to keep a distance? She can appreciate that. ]

Not for the first time. I'm looking for anything out of place from before.

[ Humor or not, she isn't here to pretend what she's doing is anything but what it seems. That comment about below, though...

She doesn't look his way, but the interest is there. ]

That so? Any advice on what to expect?

[wolfish]

You go far enough down, air becomes a problem. Gets damned hot too. Oxygen tanks are a liability after a point because of that little complication.

[ They'd gone in blind to save Aurora at the time. Well, Yuri went because Dimitri did, but the net result's the same regardless. ]

Plenty of her mechanical helpers along the way, no surprise.

[ He can only imagine that, once she recovered, she'd upped the ante on secuity. ]

[ascarylady]

Hmm, that would be a problem.

[ One she can get Jinx to fix. If not Jinx, then Piltover's bozos. One step at a time, though, and more literally, one more step until they're turning the corner to go down the hospital permitted width-wise. ]

I'm less concerned about her little friends. They didn't even think to stop the guy from stealing from her.

[wolfish]

Suppose that's true, but we were deployed to another city once. The contraptions would incapacitate people who didn't comply there, so there's nothing saying they can't here.

[ And if Aurora deals with enough shenanigans, who's to say she won't adopt a firmer hand, at least for her own security? ]

Once bitten, twice shy, yeah?

[ascarylady]

[ Her gaze flickers from the windows to Yuri, considering, and then she's back to checking as they walk along the wall. ]

I'm still not sure what to make of her. Is she even a person? Or too artificial to count? Is she capable of changing her mind on how to deal with us?

[wolfish]

I imagine she can reassess. Couldn't tell you what her perspective's like, but she has been steadily tailoring all of this for those brought here, ostensibly based on observation and requests.

[ He waves a hand vaguely at the scenery as they continue their patrol. ]

I'd think she would have a sense of self-preservation for the obvious reasons.

[ascarylady]

The feeling that I get is she's still learning what to expect from people. Why would she have self-preservation if she doesn't expect us to hurt her?

[ That could change. It should change, even, although having an Aurora that can stop them isn't ideal, either. ]

She has locked down the lower parts of the hospital for the time being, so there is that. We'll see if it stays that way.

[ But by now, they've done half the circuit around the hospital, which brings them to the back doors. Those, she gives a slight push, then pauses, listening. Nothing happens.

She'll risk opening them after that; again, nothing happens, and she can feel some of the tension she's been carrying melt away. ]

[wolfish]

When I went down there, something was damaging her. And one among us was the cause of its spread — or so I understand it.

[ Yuri has only network chatter to rely on there, but if someone got him sick during the bitter winter months my flouncing about sharing with everyone, he'd take certain measures.

He peers around her at the doors, though he continues to avoid crowding her. What he can see looks no different from the usual. ]

New arrivals still pop up topside here, though not always. They set out refreshments and the like.

[ascarylady]

But was it on purpose? That could matter more than you realize.

[ Now that they're in the hospital, she'll be sure to check the halls, rooms, and stairwells, never once questioning the space Yuri keeps between them. It's fair. They don't know one another. They aren't friends. ]

[wolfish]

I'd say the entity doing the damage intended it.

[ Some dark, ominous business. Horror from the stars. Yuri didn't know what to make of it, save that the universe isn't necessarily a friendly place. ]

Which goes to your point. We could all do with better defenses.

[ He continues to follow along, glancing about with a more cursory interest. The hospital is familiar by now, but as with Etraya itself, change wouldn't be terribly surprising. ]

[ascarylady]

Yeah. If she doesn't want to see her own people as a threat, she's less liable to defend against us...

[ Which leaves Sevika in a bind. She doesn't want Aurora to have some ironclad defense against them if they ever need to take her out, but as long as she errs to the side of thinking the best of them, that also remains a danger.

But if nothing else, it'll turn out that there is no threat lying in wait in the hospital. Everything remains the same, apart from Aurora locking herself down for the moment.

The search inevitably brings them back to the lobby. ]

[wolfish]

And if she did decide we were hostile, that'd hardly be conducive to a working relationship.

[ His tone lacks the appropriate weight for all that would imply, but he has no doubt that Aurora has ways of listening in even now.

Surely they've both considered as much, though. ]

Which is worse depends on who one asks, but I don't like the idea of being vulnerable to subterfuge either way.

[ascarylady]

[ Perhaps, but Sevika already knew Aurora had no idea about the intruders. If she was always listening, how would that be possible? Although here in the hospital, on high alert, the chances were greater. ]

I wonder if she's even capable of subterfuge. She's an automaton or... what is it? AI? An artificial intelligence. I'm not sure if we should even be treating her like a real person.

[wolfish]

Best way to find out would be to chat her up, yeah? See if she has preferences, or— say, do you suppose she'd play a game if someone offered?

[ Plenty of them could be used to gauge one's capacity for either ferreting out deceit or employing it themselves. ]

[ascarylady]

I've been talking to her about fixing the damn trolleys... and about this, obviously, but a few more chats wouldn't hurt.

[ Sevika likes to think she's good at reading intentions from people, but that isn't something you say out loud. That's too arrogant. It left you open to being proven wrong and undermining your reliability.

But would Aurora play a game? Hm. ]

A game. I don't see why not. You'd have to teach her the rules, I figure. Think she'd be interested in learning to play cards?

[wolfish]

So we've got you to thank for that transport, I see. [ A little acknowledgement before he returns to the matter at hand. ] Who doesn't fancy a card game or two? She might find any tricks novel, as well.

[ Yuri's gotten through quite a number of difficult points in his life with little more than a familiar deck and (loaded) dice. He'd wager Aurora would at least be curious, and overseeing the lot of them can't be the most diverting of activities day in and day out. ]

No doubt different worlds have different games, or some version of the same basic ones.

[ascarylady]

[ All she offers in return for the acknowledgment is a shrug. Like, whatever. The fewer people who knew that, the better, as far as she was concerned. ]

Hmm, a card night for AIs. I'll be honest here. The last few I've set up have ended in disaster. You might want to do it if only to avoid whatever fucking curse is following me there.

[wolfish]

That bad, huh?

[ He won't question her. He's got a few identities' worth of things he'd much prefer to keep to himself. ]

I could give it a go, I suppose. Sometimes cards are all you've got between one skirmish and the next, so I might know a game that'd strike her fancy.

[ His turn to shrug. ]

[ascarylady]

Yeah, that bad. Don't invite anyone from Runeterra; it'll probably turn out fine.

[ Or do and watch the chaos unfold. Don't say she didn't warn him, though. ]

But yeah. Start with something simple and fun. Kid's game, maybe. You'd be right that every world likely has something like that.

[ But they've officially finished checking the hospital. With Aurora having locked up the rest below the building, there's not much else left to do. She'll take one final look around the lobby. ]

I think that's all we can do tonight. Short of hunting that Hank guy down...

[wolfish]

I'll see what she has to say about it, as mission duties allow.

[ Goddess knows they're due to be tossed at some challenge or another, not that the purpose behind them is always clear. ]

You know what this Hank looks like?

[ He asks, casual strides carrying him toward the door. Absent new arrivals, it seems there aren't refreshments to pilfer pick up today. ]

[ascarylady]

No. That's the biggest problem right now. No idea what he looks like, where he lives, none of it.

[ So, they have to wait. Annoying. ]

[wolfish]

That is a touch inconvenient... But I'll let you know if I hear anything.

[ He doesn't have a network of eyes and ears in this place, but the population is only so large. ]